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Product Description
Review
Praise for Peter Robinson:
"Robinson, actually seems to grow in front of our eyes, delivering books of greater complexity each time."
— Otto Penzler
"Robinson is incapable of writing a dull sentence."
— People Magazine
"Robinson quietly and methodically stretches the boundries of crime fiction."
— National Post
"Robinson, of course, is among the upper elite of crime writers...."
— Hamilton Spectator
"Robinson, actually seems to grow in front of our eyes, delivering books of greater complexity each time."
— Otto Penzler
"Robinson is incapable of writing a dull sentence."
— People Magazine
"Robinson quietly and methodically stretches the boundries of crime fiction."
— National Post
"Robinson, of course, is among the upper elite of crime writers...."
— Hamilton Spectator
Product Description
From bestselling author Peter Robinson comes this atmospheric, suspenseful, and thrilling standalone novel
Through the years of success in Hollywood composing film scores, Chris always promised his wife they'd return to the Yorkshire Dales one day. Now a widower, Chris feels he must not forget his promise. Back in the Dales, he rents an isolated house that will allow him the space to grieve and the peace to compose his piano sonata. But when he finds that the house was the scene of a murder in the 1950s, and the convicted murderer was one of the last women hanged in England, he finds himself increasingly distracted by the events of sixty years before . . .
Through the years of success in Hollywood composing film scores, Chris always promised his wife they'd return to the Yorkshire Dales one day. Now a widower, Chris feels he must not forget his promise. Back in the Dales, he rents an isolated house that will allow him the space to grieve and the peace to compose his piano sonata. But when he finds that the house was the scene of a murder in the 1950s, and the convicted murderer was one of the last women hanged in England, he finds himself increasingly distracted by the events of sixty years before . . .
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Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A change from Banks,
By
This review is from: Before the Poison (Hardcover)
Peter Robinson has long been one of my favourite authors and I pick up anything with his name on it, knowing I'll be in for a good read. His latest book Before the Poison, is not part of his series featuring Inspector Banks, but is instead, a stand alone work.Chris Lowndes left England when he was younger for the United States. He made quite a name for himself as a movie score composer. When his wife dies, Chris decides it's time to return home to England. He and Laura had planned to retire there. He buys an isolated house, sight unseen. When he arrives at the home, he is curious about the former inhabitants of the house. When he finds that it was the site of the murder of local physician, Dr. Fox and that his wife Grace was hanged for that murder, Chris indulges his curiosity and begins looking further into the trial. Curiosity quickly turns into almost obsession as he begins to doubt the official version of what really happened. " I had a curious sensation that the shy, half-hidden house was waiting for me, that it had been waiting for some time." This was a very different read from the Banks books. The pacing is much slower, taking time to build the layers of the story slowly and carefully. We follow Chris as he becomes increasingly insistent on discovering more about Grace. The story is told from three sources - Chris's inquiries, excerpts from a book called Famous Trials and finally bits from Grace's own journal, kept during her wartime nursing years. I found the journal entries especially poignant and extremely well written. Much time is spent on developing the characters, their reasoning and their emotions. And this absolutely works for this story - anything faster would have ruined the atmospheric, period piece tone and feel of the tale. Some of that atmospheric feel comes from Chris's thinking he's seen something in the mirror of an old wardrobe in the house. There is another 'incident' such as this in Chris's childhood and I wondered if this would be explained or used in the story further. It wasn't, but added another layer to Chris's obsession. A revelation I didn't see coming late in the book does much to explain Chris's behaviour. Robinson has always injected music into the Banks books. The Inspector's music collection and choices always provide a soundtrack for the story. This is continued in Before the Poison as well. Chris's choice of music often sent me online to listen to Robinson's selection of musical background. Although others may find the pacing and lack of action a bit too slow, I enjoyed the change of pace from an author I have followed for many years, but Banks still remains my favourite. Before the Poison deserves to be slowly savoured under a single lamp, by a crackling fire in a house with creaking floors....
5.0 out of 5 stars
Before The Poison,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Before the Poison (Hardcover)
This book was very good, and I enjoyed it a lot and recommend it to other people. I would buy other books by this author.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another winner,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Before the Poison (Hardcover)
I always preorder Peter Robinson's books as I want to read them as soon as they become available.This book was excellent, I won't reiterate what the previous reviewer said as I agree with him. The book was slow paced but you didn't become impatient with the writing. I do admit, I did drink more wine than usual reading the book because Chris always seemed to be sipping a glass of red. The fact that Mr. Robinson can leave his Inspector Banks series and write such a well developed book, only speaks of how talented he is.
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